WILDSEA EUROPE: A Discovery Journey of Europe’s Marine Biodiversity through Water Sports Coastal Trails

ended

Project WILDSEA Europe aims to develop a transnational Sustainable Tourism Route connecting European coastal destinations with a rich marine biodiversity that can be experienced through water sports & coastal trails (diving, snorkeling, kayaking, boating, hiking, etc.) and that thrives on current scientific efforts to better understand and preserve marine ecosystems and species. WILDSEA Europe will provide information on European destinations, natural sites of interest and flag species/habitats as well as commercial channels to engage in tourism experiences that will allow tourists and visitors to make responsible contact with marine species in the wild through the practice of water sports and coastal activities, while learning about their ecology and participating in efforts to preserve them. What will WILDSEA Europe do for European Coastal Tourism Destinations? 1) Build a strong business case for the sustainable development of Europe's coastal tourism destinations, showcasing biodiversity as a valuable tourist asset and engaging the private sector in its conservation. 2) Provide SMEs with a portal (marketplace) that will facilitate their access to tourism markets and support local, regional and transnational (European) collaboration in the marketing of tourism experiences within the Tourism value chain. 3) Promote public-private cooperation at destination level so as to create synergies between public and private action in the Tourism sector that leads to improved competitiveness at destination (public) and industry (private) level. 4) Facilitate the development of new tourism experiences & packages that attract new visitors to coastal tourism destinations, giving water sports an additional edge and purpose. 5) Engage the private sector, citizens and visitors in the conservation of marine biodiversity by introducing Citizen Science in the day-to-day practice of tourist operators.